Display package



March 28, 1933. J. R. DOW 1,903,096

DISPLAY PACKAGE Filed April 29, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l J. R. Dow

March 28, 1933.

DISPLAY- PACKAGE I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 29, 1932 Patented Mar. 28, 1933 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN R. DOW, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO INTERSTATE BAKERIES PORATION, OF KANSAS CITY MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE DISPLAY Application filed April 29,

These improvements relate to display packages for food products, particularly such as small forms of cake, French pastry, etc.

The chief objects are to provide a container that may be shipped in commerce and handled freely without injury to the goods, while maintaining the goods clean, fresh and wholesome for a substantially long period,

one which displays the goods to the customer, and which provides means for dispensing as a unit some particular number of the items for example such a number as is suitable for the average familys consumption at a-given time; to provide a display package of the character described which is of light weight and of low cost; and one adapted to the carrying of trade-marks and other advertising matter in a highly eflicient position ;also to provide a contamer of artistic or ornamental aspects in the general design thereof whereby the goods offered for sale are rendered peculiarly attractive in appearance, such attractive features having distinctly commercial value. Certain objects and advantages reside in the constructional features I also as will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a top plan view of a highly'advantageous embodiment of the 80 device complete, showing it as carrying five cake-like bodies which in the particular instance are cup-shaped and are adapted to serve as the body of a short-cake type of dessert; 88 2 is aside elevation of the and its contents shown in Fig. 1;

Fi 3 is a face view, on a reduced scale,of the b ank forming the superstructure of the device illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a pers ective of the blank of Fig.

3 folded into its a1 sha e for use;

Fig.5 is aface view o the bottom of the device of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a view like Fig. 2 showing the preferred form of the device containing the goods and wrapped, ready for sale;-

Fig. 7 is a top view of the preferred form package of the base member with elements turned up and folded into normal position, the middle portion of the top being broken away to show vmarked 15 in Fig. 3 there are extensions 16 Herman 1932. Serial No. 608,204.

the interlock of some of these elements; and Figs. 8 and 9 are face views of the body and top member blanks respectively.

Referring to the modified form, the blank of Fig. 3 in my practice is cut from cardboard of the kind usually used for making paper boxes. It has first a central body 10 which becomes a top wall for the device as shown in Figs. 1 and 4. Thistop wall is pentagonal in the particular form shown and is defined by the bending of folding lines 11 shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3. Integral with the inner body 10 are extensions 12, of truncated pyramid shape in top view, and when the same are bent downward and inward as shown in Fig. 1 they constitute inner walls of five radially-directed compart ments marked 14. in Fig. 1. Integral with the extensions 12 at the folding or bending lines respectively, and when these extensions 16 are bent over on the dotted lines 15 they become radially-directed partitions or walls laterally defining the compartments 14. The superstructure thus formed and shown in Fig. 4 is then placed upon the flat cardboard disc 17 shown in Fig. 5, and then the articles such as the cakes 18 are placed in the compartments 14. The size of thesecompartments is preferably such that the food article will substantially fill them respectively so as not to shift about much in handling.

The food articles being thus positioned a sheet of. transparent wrapping material-20 is laid over the top and temporarily bentaround the bottom wall or plate 17, and the whole device is then turned over, face downward on the table, and the wrapping paper of transparent material, such as cellophane -or certain types of waxed paper, is folded upon itself and pressed down fiat upon the bottom board orbottom as 17 the wrapper being folded-over upon itself as at 20a (Fig. 2), and-made secure, aswith cement; or, if the wrapper be of waxed paper it is suflicient to apply heat to it at its bottom overlappings so as to melt the contiguous waxed surfaces together. The wrapper thus becomes sealed, and,owing to'its various folds and to its be- 'ng bent around the bottom plate 17, it prac- 10c tically excludes air and moisture, and all dirt and dust. The life of the food articles is lengthened considerably by such a wrapping.

It will be noted from Fig. 2 that the partition Walls 16 are of the height of the device as a whole. They are preferably somewhat higher than the food article, as shown in Fig. 2, so that when the wrapper 20 is resting on the tops of these partitions 16 the wrapper is out of contact with the food article; and the height of these partitions 16 is such also that numerous of these packages may be stacked one upon the other without injury to the goods.

In the preferred form of Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive the base 25 is pentagonal, but with rounded corners at 26 designed to give the package as a whole a more circular shape, or to avoid sharply projecting parts. Integral with the base 25 are the outer walls, which are folded upward at right angles to the base on the respective lines 28. Integral with the walls 27 are the partition walls 29 which fold substantially at right angles to walls 27 on lines 30 respectively. In practice the clearance at 31 is not necessary, the severance there being a mere out without removing any material.

At the free end of each partition member 29 is a. locking tab 32 and a recess 33, some of which recesses are directed inwardly and others outwardly. Fig. 7 shows how these tabs 32 may interlock with each other by interhooking the upwardly-extending 'tabs with downwardly-extending tabs, the slots 33 extending half way of the vertical height of the members 29. This makes a strongly interlocked partition structure and, through the angular and integral relation of outer walls 27 to the base'25 and to partition members 29 the receptacle structure thus formed is peculiarly strong and protective of the goods.

. The central piece shown in Fig. 9 comprises a pentagonaltop 40 and five tabs 41 which are bent downward and inward on the lines -12 respectively.

hen thus bent downward and somewhat inward a structure is formed having the shape of the parts 10 and 12 of Fig. 2. This central member is then applied as in Fig. 7, and the extensions 41 become inner end walls of the radially-directed open-ended compartments. the same as in the other form de scribed. The top plate 40 gives finish to the central portion and provides space for advertising.

Fig. 6 shows acellophane or other substantially transparent wrapper 44 wrapped about the package containing the food articles 45. the wrapper being secured at the bottom overlaps 440. as in Fig. 2.

The device of Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive is preferred over the other form for several reasuns, Through the provision of the outer Walls 27, which are limited and only partial with respect to the outer ends of the several compartments, the goods are further protected without sacrifice of a sufficient display of the contents at the sides. Secondly, the container as a whole has marginal parts as 27 at the height of the central and other parts, and this enables stacking of one container upon the other with greater security to the goods. Thirdly, the device as a whole is stronger; and fourthly, the operator can assemble the several parts and pack the goods in the device more rapidly than in the case of the modified form.

Such a central surface as 10 or 25 provides a peculiarly advantageous means for displaying the manufacturers name, trademark, etc. and contributes to the favorable appearance of the device as a whole. The cutting of the blanks from cardboard may be according to manufacturing methods well understood in the paper-boX-making art.

I contemplate as being included in these improvements all such variations, changes and departures from what is thus specifically illustrated and described as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A display package for food articles com.- prising a central top wall adapted to receive advertising matter, and walls forming a plurality of open-top and openended receptacles arranged around said top wall, some of said walls being substantially radially disposed partitions between adjacent ones of the compartments, each compartment having a bottom wall, and a wrapper of substantially transparent material around the package and being folded over upon the bottom of the device and there secured to hold the wrapper in position.

2. The display package of claim 1 hereof in which said partitions are approximately of the height of said top wall.

3. The display package of claim 1 hereof in which said top wall and said partitions are of a single piece of sheet material.

4. The display package of claim 1 hereof in which there is an inner end wall for each compartn'ient, said end walls and said partitions being integral with each other and with said top wall.

5. The display package of claim 1 hereof in which there is an inner end wall for each compartn'ient, said end walls being integral with the top wall.

6. The display package of claim 1 hereof in which the bottom walls of the several compartments are integral with each other and with the partition walls.

7. The device of claim 1 hereof in which each of said compartments has an outer wall extending but partially across the compartments outer end.

S. A display package for food a1 "icles comprising a substantially flat base of sheet material and a superstructure of sheet material resting on the base and comprising a central portion upstanding from the base and having a substantially flat top and substantially radially-disposed artltion members upstanding from the base and extending from said central portion forming outwardlyopen-ended receptacles for the goods. 9. Construction for a display package for food articles which includes a substantially flatbase of sheet material having at its outer margin integral end-wall extensions and partition members integral with said extensions respectively, the end wall extensions being bent up substantially at right an les to the base and the partition members Eeing bent substantially radially inward, with means holding the inner end portions of the partition members in their normal position to define substantially radially-dlrected receptacles open at the to and partially open at the outer ends thereo? respectively.

10. The construction of claim 9 hereof which includes also a central member having a substantially flat top and integral extensions bent downward and occupyin space between adjacent partitions and f irming inner end walls for said receptacles res'pec-' tively. JOHN R. DOW. 

